Last week we touched on emotional health benefits and the importance of offering time off to re-charge. Much of this need comes from workplace stress. With high-stress levels playing a significant role in employee burnout, managing stress is essential to employee well-being, engagement and productivity.

So let’s dive into the details. In addition to offering time off to re-charge, what can employers do at the office to manage stress?

The stress management benefit you need now: stress-relief breaks

While more than 71 percent of employees desire stress-relief breaks, such as meditation, massages or required breaks, only 28 percent of employers provide them. Use stress-relief breaks as an opportunity to refresh, reset and engage employees in their work.

When provided stress-relief breaks, employees are 13.8 percent more engaged.

If you notice your workforce is becoming disengaged, listen up – stress-relief breaks might be the key to improving their performance. More than 80 percent of disengaged and hostile employees prefer the opportunity to have a stress-relief break, however fewer than 15 percent of these people report working at organizations that provide such breaks.

What does this mean?

Cultivating mindfulness at work could be your next secret weapon to improving workforce excellence. Here at Limeade, we create challenges in our own employee engagement program, LimeMates Be It, that can help alleviate stress and anxiety so we can all feel fresh and engaged throughout the entire day. Examples include guided meditation breaks, walks with new employees, flash fitness challenges and on-site massages.

Want to learn more about the current state of employee well-being and engagement? Download the full report, including resources for building a successful employee engagement program.